In the interest of worker safety, emergency eye wash fountains are commonly provided at industrial locations where workers may be subjected to fumes, liquids or particulate matter which can irritate or injure the eyes.
Generally, prior art devices have employed eye wash fountains providing sprays of water from regular plant plumbing connections. Since the use of emergency fountains is normally infrequent, a long period of non-use often results in scale and corrosion build-up in unused pipes which can increase injury if sprayed into the eyes. In addition, water in a plumbing system will often be at a different temperature than a room. Usually cold or warm water can be uncomfortable or even injurious to the user of an eye wash fountain. A distinct disadvantage to these prior art devices is the added expense for installation of the special plumbing connections necessary for the operation of such units.
Particular examples of eye wash fountains such as these appear in U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,315 which discloses nozzle means for preventing surging of water upon initial opening of a valve, U.S. Pat. 3,629,876, which discloses an eye wash fountain having integral nozzles in a basin with valves located on opposite sides of the basin for activation by leaning thereon, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,660, which discloses an eye wash fountain having retractable cover members over nozzle outlets for protecting such outlets from air-borne foreign matter.
An improved form of wash fountain is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,798. There is described an eye wash fountain which is independent of any plumbing connections. The fountain has its liquid reservoir within a hollow portable housing and a pair of generally opposed spray nozzles fixed in a lower portion of the housing in communication with the reservoir. The nozzles are blocked while awaiting use, by caps overlying each of the nozzles and joined together by a pull strap. By grabbing the strap and yanking it outwardly, the worker can release the caps from the nozzles and permit a gravity-induced spray of washing liquid. In this manner, an eye wash fountain was presented which was economical and portable and able to deliver a room temperature wash in comparison to uncomfortable cold water washes provided from plumbed wash fountains. However, this form of wash fountain requires the retention of liquid in the fountain after use. A further disadvantage arises in the troublesome form of pour refilling required for this type of wash fountain.
A further improvement in eye wash fountains is taught by my U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,146. That patent discloses a discrete flow channel in the fountain base and a separate tray for providing eye wash liquid to the flow channel from a removable tank.
This invention provides improvements over the eye wash fountains disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,012,798 and 4,363,146 while still providing a self-contained unit that does not require connection to a remote source of eye wash liquid, and a room temperature flush.